A packed programme of engagements awaits President Musharraf as he flies into Boston on September 7 to begin a whirlwind six-day tour that will see him address the UN, meet President Bush and call on or receive important figures including the UN Secretary General and the heads of the World Bank and the IMF.
President and Mrs Musharraf will arrive in Boston on board a commercial PIA flight with a party of 16. The next day, the president will address a meeting at Harvard University and also meet members of the faculty. He will depart for Chicago on September 9, where the next day he will meet the editorial board of the newspaper Chicago Tribune and also record an interview with WNG Televison. He will later address the Chicago Council of Foreign Relations which will also host a lunch for him.
On Sepetember11, the president will fly into New York where he is scheduled to attend special commemorative ceremonies to honour those who perished a year ago in the World Trade Centre attacks. This ceremony will also be attended by the Indian prime minister as by several heads of state and government who will be in the city for the opening of the UN General Assembly. Earlier in the day, the president will attend a lunch arranged by the editorial board of the New York Times where he will also answer questions. He also has meetings scheduled in the afternoon with the president of Bulgaria, the World Bank president and the IMF Managing Director.
On September12, the president will address the UN General Assembly. He will be the fifth speaker of the day, the first by tradition always being the president of the US. He will hold a news conference arranged by the UN Correspondents Association.
President Musharraf is scheduled to meet President Bush at 5pm the same day but the venue and duration of the meeting have not been specified. He will also attend an early evening supper hosted by President Bush for visiting foreign heads of state and government. At eight that evening, the president will play host to over 1,500 Pakistani–Americans who are expected to travel from many parts of the US to meet and hear him.
On September13, Musharraf will meet the editors of the Wall Street Journal at breakfast. He will later be interviewed by NBC. The same morning he will visit Asia Society where he will address an invited group. He is also due to meet four heads of state whose names could not be ascertained at this stage. He will also give an interview to Fox TV. He is also due to receive Dr Henry Kissinger at his Roosevelt Hotel suite. He departs for Pakistan the same evening. The president’s party will include ministers Shaukat Aziz, Nisar Memon and Inamul Haq, as well as Dr Nasim Ashraf, Lt Gen Tanvir Naqvi and Maj Gen Rashid Qureshi. |
